


of birthdays and first dates

by rikubraveheart



Series: Slice of Clack Event [2]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: (kinda), Established Relationship, Everyone Is Alive, First Dates, M/M, Post-Canon, Slice of Clack, SoCPrint, Zack is a romantic, and Cloud loves it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikubraveheart/pseuds/rikubraveheart
Summary: Slice of Clack, Week 2: Celebration.Cloud can’t remember the last time he celebrated his birthday. Quite literally, in fact.The last time he celebrated it must’ve been while he was working for Shinra and his memories of that time are basically all gone, barring some fortunate exceptions. He doesn’t particularly care. His birthday was never a big deal for him, which is why he almost forgets that the next one is tomorrow.But it is, apparently, a big deal for his boyfriend.In which Zack takes Cloud on a recreation of their first date.
Relationships: Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Series: Slice of Clack Event [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797526
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66
Collections: Slice of Clack: July 2020





	of birthdays and first dates

**Author's Note:**

> Second entry! I didn't really like this one at first, but I've grown quite fond of it now. Boy, I'm so behind the prompts now. Been trying to improve my dialogue, I hope it shows!
> 
> My twitter: [@rikubraveheart](https://twitter.com/rikubraveheart)

Cloud can’t remember the last time he celebrated his birthday. Quite literally, in fact.

The last time he celebrated it must’ve been while he was working for Shinra and his memories of that time are basically all gone, barring some fortunate exceptions. He doesn’t particularly care. His birthday was never a big deal for him, which is why he almost forgets that the next one is tomorrow.

But it is, apparently, a big deal for his boyfriend.

“What!” Zack exclaims. “You don’t remember?”

“I thought we’d already established I forgot most of my time at Shinra.”

“Yeah but I thought”—he sighs, interrupting himself—“nevermind.”

Cloud raises an eyebrow at him and gives him a questioning look.

“It’s just— it was your last birthday before we spent four years in a literal hell, so I guess I’m just disappointed you can’t remember. We made so many good memories that day, too...”

He nods in understanding. “Nothing is stopping us from making new ones, though.”

An idea flashes across Zack’s face.

“Of course!” he exclaims, at the same time he starts walking out of the room. “I may not be able to make you remember, but I can make you experience it again. Just you wait, I’m gonna give you the best birthday reprise ever!”

Birthday reprises aren’t a thing normally, but they’ve always done things their own way.

Cloud doesn’t see much of Zack that day, not until that night at their shared apartment, where he asks him about his plans for tomorrow.

Zack gives him a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “Sorry sunshine, if I want it to go the exact same way it did back then, it has to be a surprise.”

He could complain and try to coerce some answers out of him. Instead, he grabs him by the arm and drags them both to their shared bed, where he kisses him properly.

Cloud wakes up alone the next morning. At first, he thinks Zack might’ve gone out already in preparation for his surprise, but the noise he hears coming from the kitchen tells him otherwise.

He throws one of Zack’s shirts over his naked body and makes his way to the kitchen.

He’s greeted by the sight of Zack cooking breakfast. “Good morning, sunshine!”

“G’morning,” he greets back. “I thought you’d have left already.”

“No way. I wanted to make sure you had the perfect birthday morning!” he explains. “I also wanted to be the first person to wish you a happy birthday.”

He serves him his breakfast (a poor attempt at pancakes, with the berries Cloud loves) and says, “So, happy birthday, Cloud.”

Cloud smiles. The breakfast isn’t anything too impressive, neither of them is too good at cooking yet, but the thoughtfulness of the act makes his heart swell. Soft words fill their kitchen while they eat their food together. 

Not long after, Zack tells him he’ll be leaving to get everything ready for their evening together. “I’ll pick you up at seven, wear something nice!”

Cloud nods and then Zack is gone.

He spends the rest of his day with his friends, who all seem to know it’s his birthday for some reason. He supposes it’s either Tifa or Zack’s doing. He even gets scolded by Yuffie, who much like Zack seems to think birthdays are a big deal. 

Aerith wishes him a happy birthday but unlike the others, who have decided they _need_ to spend time with Cloud all of a sudden, she leaves quickly, alleging she has something important to do. He doesn’t think much of it, even if he does wonder what she needs to do.

Soon, his meeting time with zack is soon approaching, and upon hearing that he had asked Cloud to dress up nicely Tifa gives herself the task of choosing Cloud’s outfit.

“Your style is literally baggy, black and lazy,” she says. Cloud doesn’t even bother to disagree. “I know you own some nice clothes but if I leave you alone you’ll end up going to your date in your old SOLDIER uniform.”

That’s how Cloud winds up in a button-up shirt and a pair of jeans that, according to Tifa, make his ass look good.

“I hope Zack thanks me for this,” she says, clearly pleased with the result.

“I could’ve come up with an outfit like this too,” he argues. Tifa sends him a look. “...Probably.”

After wishing him happy birthday again (Cloud’s already lost count of how many times he’s been congratulated today) she leaves, leaving him alone to wait for Zack. It confuses him, having so many people care that it’s his birthday. Back in Nibelheim no one except for Tifa and his mom had, and he knows for a fact that he hadn’t exactly had many friends during his time at Shinra. So to suddenly have so many people making a big deal out of it… it feels weird, to say the least. But in a good way. 

He hears Zack’s keys at the door at seven o’clock sharp.

“Are you ready for the best birthday reprise of your life?” he asks, in his usual enthusiastic manner.

“ _Only_ birthday reprise of my life, you mean.”

“Details, details.” He hands him a small bouquet of flowers. “First point of the evening! Back then, I got you a handful of flowers Aerith helped me arrange.”

“...Corny,” he says while he takes the flowers from his boyfriend’s hands, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“And you love it.”

He won’t deny that one. 

“Shall we go?” He extends him an arm and Cloud takes it gracefully. 

They walk together for a while, and soon enough they arrive at a building Cloud recognizes as a dancing saloon. A popular spot for couples wishing for a romantic dancing date.

“Admittedly I wasn’t sure about this, all those years ago, but I wanted to take you out of your comfort zone and, well, if I also got to put my hands all over you while I was at it then no one could hold it against me.” He winks.

Cloud can imagine how he would have been nervous to do this, to be this close to Zack when he was nothing but a trooper and Zack was everything he aspired to be. Now, things are different. After everything they’ve been through together, there’s very few things that could make him nervous around Zack. There’s no place that feels more at home that by his side.

When he takes him out to dance, Cloud decides to show him his moves. He still remembers Aerith’s face at the Honeybee Inn, not expecting Cloud to be able to _move_ on the dance floor, least of all be good at it, and he hopes to get a similar reaction out of Zack, even if the dancing style is completely different.

So, instead of letting Zack guide him, he takes the lead.

“Damn,” he exclaims. “When did you learn to dance? I remember you having two left feet.”

Cloud chuckles. “I’ll have to show you my _real_ moves one day.”

“I’d really like that,” he answers, and the tone he says this in tells Cloud exactly how much he’s looking forward to it.

They leave after a while, holding hands and still giddy from the closeness of the dance. Zack starts telling him what they’re doing next.

“Then, I took you on a nightly picnic. Unfortunately, the original place we went to is… unavailable”—destroyed by Meteor, probably—“but Aerith helped me prepare something similar.”

It doesn’t take long for Cloud to recognize the path they’re taking as the way to the Sector 5 slums church.

“Similar, how?” he asks, curious.

“You’ll see.” He nudges him with his elbow.

Now, Cloud has spent a great deal of time in Aerith’s church. Be it helping her out, just hanging out or moping around. But what he sees when he enters it this time is a completely different place.

There are little lights hung around it alongside some candles, giving it a soothing and romantic atmosphere that looks totally like Aerith’s work. The flowers are being dimly illuminated by those lights, making them look more beautiful than ever. There’s a picnic blanket spread next to the flowerbed, which helps Cloud figure out exactly what they’re there for.

“Back then I sneaked us into a battle simulator and made it look like a romantic picnic under the stars, since you weren’t allowed to leave Midgar due to your status as an infantryman,” Zack explains. “At least if we had gotten caught in the simulator I could’ve carried all the blame. As those simulators aren’t exactly available anymore, I figured I’d try to recreate that memory as accurately as I could, and Aerith gave me this idea.”

He realizes he’s about to sound like a cliché romance movie, but since the situation is already cliché enough he says, “It’s perfect.”

Zack’s blinding smile after this is as bright as the lights he’s hung around the church.

They sit on the picnic blanket and Zack takes out all kinds of delicious food Cloud can only guess he probably got help with making. They start eating (and it’s effectively way too well-made to have been Zack’s doing) and exchanging words of affection.

“Another similarity between both birthdays is that I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without Aerith’s help,” Zack says. “She’s the ultimate wingman.”

Cloud smiles softly at the mention of Aerith’s prowess as a matchmaker. He still remembers how she was the one to push them into a relationship again after Zack reunited with them.

“She really is,” he replies. “So, what’s next in the birthday reprise schedule?”

A wicked smile makes its way across Zack’s face. “Well, we talked, which we’ve already been doing, and when the time to go back approached I decided to man-up,” he starts explaining. 

“I put my hand on your cheek, bent down,” he does this as he says it, “and kissed you for the first time like I had been thinking of doing for months.”

When their lips touch, something sparks inside Cloud’s heart. They’ve kissed so many times before, but none of them has felt quite like this one. It’s like the somehow familiar atmosphere is tugging something at the back of his mind, almost making him remember.

It’s a soft kiss, lips barely touching moving slowly against each other. But Cloud wants, no, _needs_ more.

He deepens the kiss, in a desperate attempt at bringing that memory forward. Instead, he loses all coherent thought when Zack bites his lower lip, making him groan. Zack’s kisses have a way of making him lose himself in them, to forget everything else but the boy embracing him.

What started as an innocent brush of lips has quickly turned into something more passionate. Cloud no longer cares about whatever his brain was trying to remember, too busy drinking the love pouring from his boyfriend’s lips.

They finally break apart. “That was _definitely_ different from our first kiss,” Zack sighs. “If we had done that back then I’m certain the poor innocent teenager you were would have passed out.”

Cloud smiles, something he’s been doing a lot since Zack came back to him, amused by the thought. 

“That’s too bad for the past me,” he jokes, and brings him down for another kiss.

He may never get back his lost memories but, at that moment, he can’t bring himself to care. Not as long as he has Zack by his side to help him make new ones.

**Author's Note:**

> Once again, here's my Twitter: [@rikubraveheart](https://twitter.com/rikubraveheart)
> 
> Thanks to [Komo](https://twitter.com/guardianbeII) and [Yetu](https://twitter.com/RedBearUniverse) for beta reading this!


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